Afromowitz also told MMAjunkie.com a Showtime-televised bout between Jorge Gurgel and Conor Heun, originally slated for 155 pounds, will instead be held at 160 pounds.

Friday’s Strikeforce event, the second held under the “Strikeforce Challengers” (formerly “SHO MMA”) banner, takes place at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash. The five-fight main card, which includes a main event of Joey Villasenor (26-6) vs. Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos (16-12), airs on Showtime.

Hallman, a Washington native, was slated to fight veteran Marks (26-18) in the preliminary card’s featured bout.

Now unable to compete on perhaps the biggest event of his career, Marks has been replaced by Davis (11-8), a seven-year veteran of the Northwest fight scene. The 26-year-old returned from a near-two-year layoff last month to defeat Ryan Pope via first-round stoppage at a Cage Sport event.

Francis Ngannou further legitimized himself as a future UFC heavyweight contender on Saturday when he scored a first-round submission victory of Anthony Hamilton in the UFC Fight Night 102 co-main event. See how social media reacted.

ALBANY, N.Y. – Francis Ngannou came into his bout against Anthony Hamilton as the biggest favorite on the fight card, but it likely wasn’t due to his submission skills. Yet the knockout artist Ngannou managed to show some new tricks when he slapped a kimura lock (…)